Philly grads excel as Ohio State opens with 12-6 win over Cleveland State

Four goals effort from senior captain John Kelly and a momentum-swinging 6-2 third quarter run were enough to lift the No. 8 Ohio State men’s lacrosse team to a 13-6 season-opening victory over Cleveland State on Saturday evening.

For CSU:
* Gideon Brokenborough (Roman Catholic, Duke’s LC) scored the first goal of the game

THE SHORT STORY
Holding a slim 5-4 lead at halftime, Ohio State put the game away in the third quarter by scoring six times – including three straight in a three minute span late in the stanza. Defensively, the Buckeyes limited Cleveland State to just five second-half shots and won 16 of 22 faceoffs. Kelly’s four goals were a career high while sophomore Tre Leclaire picked up where he left off in 2017, scoring three times while also adding an assist. Senior Hank Bethke also enjoyed a career night, scoring a pair of second-half goals.

THE TURNING POINT
Ohio State jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first half but saw Cleveland State grab the momentum back with two goals in the final three minutes of the second quarter. The second of those goal came in transition with just eight seconds remaining in the half, making the score 5-4 at halftime.
On the first possession of the third quarter, however, Jasinski started the second-half rally with a unassisted goal at the 13:42 mark and that was followed three minutes later by Leclaire, who blasted a shot in from approximately 14 yards out. Ohio State would score four more times in the quarter – including a transition goal in which Terefenko picked up a ground ball on the defensive end, raced down the field and fed Leclaire for his third goal of the game.